Val Prieto is no longer Babalu's "editor-in-chief." He is now listed on its masthead as "Founding Editor." That title is usually accorded to the founder of a newspaper or magazine after he has retired, or, more commonly, expired.
It cannot be long before Val awards himself the title of "Augustus."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
209 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 209 of 209Hey John L. aka LD,
I truly appreciate your consistence in reminding people of my "outing" and the despicable KaSStro-wanna-be who did it, but man do us a favor, stop with the Cuban/American blanket statements.
As a Republican since I heard my first USA election on a tiny (and shitty) portable radio (Nixon won, and I STILL think Nixon just got a raw deal, specially when you see that TV speech telling the world, WAR is over!) I can assure you that EVERY SINGLE
commendation, citation or any one of about 50 “THE RNC LOVES YOU” suitable-for-framing certificates that were once covering my walls, have come the fuck off.
Oh, I still get my LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP CARD from the “party” and it goes straight into my shredder. The only things I have kept are all the Xmas cards from Reagan and the invite to Bush’s inauguration (because I figure it will come handy at a floundering party).
I personally do not know ONE single Cuban/American who will not take a shit on Bush’s face if they got the opportunity, this includes the more illuminated Cuban/Americans in Miami, the ones who are not looking to occupy any paper tiger positions in their made-up empires so that mommy and daddy can brag about their son’s inherited patriotism (as fucked up, skewed and self-serving as it may be).
Even on the non-Cuban front, Bush’s idiotic, suicidal and arrogant political decisions, his virtual destruction of the USA economy and his participation in fulfilling Khruschev’s pledge that “they will bury us” (see the VICTORY DAY PARADE IN MOSCOW? scary shit!) is enough to condemn this idiot to hang by his neck till his boots fall off his fleshless feet.
So, before you accuse Cuban/Americans of being Bushites, do some homework, will ya?
Forty guayaberas hanging out at Versailles playing dominoes and drinking el cafesito does NOT a refugee group make.
Hey MaT:
is your site down tonight?
You are right Manuel, my mother in laws brother left Cuba via Spain (1972) she had to work overtime to maintain him there, it was not easy, thank God it was only 2 years.
Greetings everyone.
I've read many of the various posts and comments here for a few weeks, I had never posted a comment despite the fact that many, if not most, although not all, of the topics were and are, worthy reads. Today is a different day, despite the fact that the OP's topic (one of the few that I respectfully choose to consider more of an interpersonal feud, than a pro-Cuban freedom one) is not what has prompted me to comment, the subject of Francisco Franco's Spain and its relationship with and/or towards Cuba and Cubans, demands my participation.
I was one of those lucky young Cubans, whom in the early 1970s wound up on the cola (line) outside Spain's embassy in Havana with my parents, as mentioned by KC on 5/11/2008 @ 11:55 PM. I vividly remember being spotted by two consular officials who had walked outside the embassy to let us Cubans know that they would indeed take care of all of us, no matter how late in the night it got to be. I also remember that both of those officials took an unusual look at me and asked me how old I was, to which I replied that I was 14 y.o., they concurrently said to each other: " A este chaval tenemos que sacarlo de aqui (Cuba) lo más pronto posible, antes de que le llegue la edad de la mili Castrista." They proceeded to take my parents and me inside the embassy, bypassing a number of other fellow Cubans who were ahead of us on the line, they mentioned my age to those Cubans as the reason for having us skip the line and ALL of those fellow Cubans on such line approved of the measures taken by both consular officials. Additionally, my father had with him proof that my paternal grand-father (who died 6 months after our family's business in Santiago was "intervened" by the communists in 1968) was a citizen of Spain, despite having been borne in Cuba to citizens of Spain from La Coruña province of Galicia, Spanish law made him an automatic Spaniard and he did indeed grow up in La Coruña, where he had been taken to at the age of 2 by his parents and which he and his brother left as stowaways when he returned to Cuba at the age of 14.
When we arrived at Madrid's Barajas airport at about midnight local time in the late winter of 1971-1972, we were warmly welcomed by representatives of the government who guided us as to what we would need to do later that day, a friend of my maternal grandmother picked us up and took us to his home in the Northwestern part of Madrid where many other Cubans resided.
That afternoon we went to the "ropero" where we were all given free brand new clothing that had been donated by Spaniards who supported us as anti-Commies, we were also given money for expenses, we were also advised as to the various "comedores" where we would be fed lunch and dinner, seven days a week, for free, to which we gratefully went to every weekday, as my mom decided that it would be best for us to have home made meals on the weekends. I finished my secondary (high school) education in Madrid's Instituto (H.S.) Cervantes FOR NO MONEY, i.e. FREE OF CHARGE. My parents were both employed while we lived there, I worked selling ice cream at "Puerta del Sol" during the summer, making 6,000 pesetas per month, at a time when the average Spaniard student was being paid 1,000 pesetas per month.
Franco's Spain was a virtually crime free paradise of prosperity, civility and respect. When was the last (or any) time, that anyone in the USA has received a corteous military salute from a policeman when asking such police officer a question? Fat chance. We were given such salute EVERY SINGLE TIME that we needed a question answered, as were any other persons, Spaniard or foreigner.
I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, that KC is DEAD ON CORRECT. I was there for more than 2 years, I was not told by a tio, or a friend of a primo, or a vecino of an amiga. I lived it. Francisco Franco was one of the most generous and patriotic, trully patriotic as in "I will do whatever it takes to achieve the best results for the welfare of my people" anti-communist internationalist leaders/statesmen of the 20th century. I will forever be grateful to him (may he rest in peace,) his government and his people for everything that they did for us Cubans in our hour of need, instead of sticking neo-colonialist fingers into the affairs of the Cuba of the 20th century, as a certain imperial minded nation has done to this day, while pretending to be helping us and our homeland, to its inescapable shame.
Angel:
Gratitude is the noblest human emotion. I respect it in you as I do in killcastro. It should not, however, be the basis for forming an opinion about Franco's relations with Fidel Castro.
I have never questioned Franco's greatness as saviour of Spain and would have welcomed a Franco as saviour of Cuba. Perhaps it is unfair to judge Franco solely on the basis of what he didn't do for Cuba rather than on what he did for Spaniards and isolated Cubans (including Batista). As a Cuban, however, that is exactly what a choose to do. Franco was an abetter of Fidel Castro who saw the U.S. as his real enemy and coddled Communists like Castro who tweaked its nose. If you have any evidence to the contrary, please let me know. As I said, there are very few real heroes in the world. I should certainly wish to add Franco to the pantheon of my personal heroes.
P.S.:
As the son of a Spaniard, your father received Spanish citizenship and was entitled to work in Spain and send his children to school there just as any other Spaniard. Others Cubans who were not Spanish citizens were forbidden from doing so under Spanish law. The latter, of course, were in the majority.
P.P.S.:
Gee, you take the trouble to write a Spanish & English version of your blog (La Diáspora Cubana/The Cuban Diaspora) and yet restrict access to it on an "invitation only" basis. Of course, it is your perfect right to do so, but why?
I tried to go to Angel's blog also, but alas I'm not invited
If you have an interest in spirituality, are intrigued by astrology, fascinated by spell caster or captivated by Psychic abilities, then the next logical step is to look into the power of Magic @Dr.Obodo templeofanswer@otmail.co.uk
Post a Comment